Adopted - Rafael Montero

[MFS62]

Now that my kid Lutz reached the majors earlier this year, there's room for this skinny pitcher from the Dominican Republic at my dinner table.
He's not on anyone's pre or mid season lists, so he needs a home.

http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=P&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=606160

Later

[Frayed Knot]

BA notices Montero on this week's 'Hot List'
Nearly 8 innings of no-hit ball will do that for ya'.

Team: high Class A St. Lucie (Florida State)
Age: 21
Why He's Here: 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 7 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 3 BB, 5 SO
The Scoop: Montero put together a solid first half with low Class A Savannah, but he has flourished with St. Lucie since being promoted in late June.
The 21-year-old Dominican has limited Florida State League hitters to a .196 average while striking out 56 in 50 innings. After fanning 14 in six innings last week, Montero held Palm Beach hitless over his 7 2/3 shutout innings on Tuesday night.
After yet another dominating performance, the righthander has now registered seven quality starts in just eight appearances at the level.

[MFS62]

Rafael Montero was placed on the St. Lucie Mets disabled list because he�s been shut down after hitting his innings limit. Montero, 21, has thrown 122 innings this year between Savannah and St. Lucie, after throwing 71 innings last year. Montero goes out on top after hurling 7.2 no-hit innings against Palm Beach in his final start of the season.

Later

[Benjamin Grimm]

Mets' Rafael Montero realizing a lifelong dream By Jorge Castillo/The Star-Ledger on February 28, 2013 at 9:38 PM, updated March 01, 2013 at 7:50 AM VIERA, Fla. -- Rafael Montero was 17 years old when he decided to leave his rural hometown of Sabana Higuero, nestled near the Haitian border, and move 250 kilometers southeast to the Dominican capital city of Santo Domingo. Alongside one of his eight older brothers, he relocated with one goal in mind: to play professional baseball. It is the common dream of children across the baseball-crazy Dominican Republic. But by the time a player reaches 17 years of age, it is often considered too late for him to attract enough attention from scratch to intrigue a Major League Baseball team. Montero, who has a first-grade education, had played recreationally growing up in Higuerito, but never in a structured format. He was aware of the uphill climb. It fueled him to work harder. Every morning he would wake up at 6:30 to train with his brother. When the brother went to work at a hardware store, Montero would go to the local park to train some more. He arrived in Santo Domingo with a fastball that topped out at 89 miles per hour. By the time he was 20 years old, it was at 94. When the Mets discovered Montero, they found a finished product, a rare talent that had slipped through the cracks. Bidding was minimal and they signed him on Jan. 20, 2011, for $90,000. "I thought I had a chance," Montero said in Spanish hours before he made his Grapefruit League debut last night. "I just needed to work hard so that when I was 19 or 20 I would sign. And that�s how it happened. God helped me and I signed." Montero was the beneficiary of a recent development. Before taking his current post, Mets general manager Sandy Alderson was appointed to oversee MLB�s initiatives in the Dominican Republic. He said a transition he helped set forth has been made in recent years as showcases for players between the ages of 18 and 20 have surfaced. "Until the last three or four years, it was extremely rare because when kids don�t sign at age 16 or 17, they�re often confined to the waste bin," Alderson said. "I think clubs began realizing that there was a market of players who were of that age that had been overlooked, so clubs started to go back in to take another look." Montero quickly impressed in 2011. Also featuring a changeup, slider and sinker in his arsenal, he posted a 2.15 ERA over 71 innings in 17 appearances, 12 of which were starts, between rookie ball and low-A Brooklyn. Last season he emerged as a bona fide prospect. In 20 combined starts with low-A Savannah and high-A St. Lucie, the diminutive Montero -- he is generously listed at 6-foot, 170 pounds -- had an 11-5 record and 2.36 ERA over 122 innings. He walked just one batter per nine innings with Savannah and ratcheted up his strikeout rate per nine innings to 9.9 in 50? innings with St. Lucie. He had 110 strikeouts to only 19 walks between the two stops. He was then named the Mets� Sterling Organizational Pitcher of the Year. Baseball America now ranks Montero the Mets� fifth-best prospect. "He keeps the ball down," Mets bullpen coach Ricky Bones explained. "He throws strikes and has the confidence in his pitches. And his composure on the mound, his mound presence is impressive for a 22-year-old." Yesterday, Montero started against the Nationals, his first test against major-league hitting. He arrived at Space Coast Stadium unaware that he would be opposite the phenom Stephen Strasburg. He allowed a leadoff double to Denard Span in the first, but left him stranded by retiring the next three hitters. He allowed two doubles in the second, but left the damage at just one run. The Mets ended up tying the Nationals, 4-4 in 10 innings. "I wasn�t nervous," Montero said afterward. Five years removed from a fateful decision, he was living the dream he set out for.

[MFS62]

Heard Sandy say on WFAN today that Montero will most likely start the season at Binghamton.

Later

[MFS62]

Here's a stat for you. Through last night's game:

Career starts: 34
Career walks: 32


Later

[Edgy MD]

Twenty-seven strikeouts and one walk so far in 22 2/3 innings at Binghamton. He's 3-0 with a 1.59 ERA. Hard to see what prospect watchers wouldn't like about him. I guess he's not particularly big, but mercy. He's been as stupid good at AA as Harvey in the bigs. In some ways, moreso.

"Hello, my name is Rafael Montero. Prepare to die."

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

There's some question about the fastball, and how much off-speed stuff he'll need to make it play for more than a spell in the majors.

But that control plays ANYWHERE.

[Frayed Knot]

Took an 'L' in Friday night's game vs Akron: 5 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BB, 8 Ks ... so that K/BB ratio 'plummets' to 35/3
Bingo bats imitated the big club by getting themselves shut out and K-ing 16 times



There were a couple of questions asked about him this week in 'Baseball America' (where he made honorable mention in their 'Hot Week' list).
* A question about when he'd be called up got an answer of: next year unless the big club is contending
* Another reader questioned his fastball but the answer there was: low-90s to peaking at 95 so no problems there

[MFS62]

He was brought up to Las Vegas for a "spot start" last night, but the game was rained out. I hope he starts for them tonight.
Later

[Edgy MD]

Double header today in Iowa. Montero gets the day game

[MFS62]

He pitched well, but lost 2-1. He left with a 1-0 lead, but Josh Edgin gave up hits that allowed the two runners to score. That was the second straight time Edgin has inherited runners from Montero and allowed them to score. He did it in Montero's last start in Binghamton.
What's Spanish for "keep that guy out of my games?"

Later

[Edgy MD]

He didn't leave with a 1-0 lead. Brian Bogusevic led off with a homer for Iowa. He got the next two guys and left after walking his last batter, who Edgin allowed to score on a pair of singles.

Five strikeouts and one (fatal) walk, plus four hits in 6 2/3 innings. Very nice, overall. Unfortunately his teammates weren't generating any more offense (three hits) than the parent club.

Managed five runs (all in the sixth inning) in the nightcap, but lost that one, 6-5.

Zach Lutz: starting to hit a little.

[Guest themetfairy]

ESPN reports that Rafael is heading to Vegas.

[Frayed Knot]

Allowing zero runs over your last twenty innings/three starts since his one start stint in Vegas will get you called up right quick.
Batters were 11-for-71 (.155) over that time w/no extra-base hits and 18 Ks. Season-long WHiP now stands at 0.90

[Benjamin Grimm]

I know that some of these young pitchers are likely to be traded, but I do hope that Montero isn't one of them.

[Frayed Knot]

Sure, but if it's for a similarly young position player of equal promise it's something that should be strongly considered.
Sometimes you have to deal from strength in order to fill your weaknesses.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I understand that. I'm just saying I'd rather they find a way to keep Montero and deal someone else. (Like Syndergaard, I guess.)

[Frayed Knot]

I suspect that most scouts/GMs/whatever would choose Syndergaard's future over Montero's if given the choice, even if that future is a bit further away. And, yes, whenever you project further into the future the margin of error theoretically gets bigger but I think most would take that risk and opt for the higher projected ceiling.

[MFS62]

Keep your hands offa' my kid.
Later

[MFS62]

Rafael had some early difficulty adjusting to pitching in the PCL.
But his numbers for his last three starts in AAA (including 7 IP, 2 H last night at Las Vegas)


21 IP 12H 3ER 5BB 20K



Later

[MFS62]

Last night, pitching AT Las Vegas:
7 IP, 8 K, 0 BB, 0 ER, 4 H.
Reportedly throwing 95-96.

Later

[Frayed Knot]

Montero makes it to the top of this week's 'Hot List' in BA

Rafael Montero, rhp, Mets
Team: Triple-A Las Vegas (Pacific Coast)
Age: 22
Why He�s Here: 2-0, 0.64, 14 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 BB, 17 SO

The Scoop: Few Dominican pitchers fly through the minor leagues, but then few have the same background as Montero. The Mets signed him in January 2011 when he was 20�an age that makes him practically ancient in the world of international scouting�but he�s skyrocketed from the Dominican Summer League to Triple-A in just two seasons thanks to his impressive command of a solid arsenal. Little has fazed Montero on that journey, including the hitter-friendly conditions of Las Vegas. The only run Montero gave up this week came on a George Springer home run�he certainly has plenty of company there�but otherwise he overmatched hitters during his two home starts in Las Vegas.

Montero sits in the low 90s and can get up to the mid-90s when he needs it, but it�s the late life and the command of his fastball that makes him so effective. He lacks a wipeout offering among his secondary pitches, so scouts aren�t projecting Montero as a frontline starter, but the stuff and command are there to profile as a steady mid-rotation arm.

[Edgy MD]

I guess, if and when he gets the call, he'd be the first prospect promoted to the Mets who was originally scouted and signed as an amateur under Sandy's stewardship.

[MFS62]

The 2014 Baseball Almanac just came out, and BA says Montero was the organization's minor league player of the year. Don't know if that is their take, or if this the official decision.

Later

[MFS62]

Montero will start the first exhibition game later this week.

Later

[Guest themetfairy]

Rafael in action on Friday -

[fimg=450:25vcb2h1]http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3725/13023329025_38720e2612_b.jpg[/fimg:25vcb2h1]

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

The Sunday Times' look at ESL in PSL uses Kid Control as an entry point.

Usually, Reyes said, a player�s English correlates with his baseball ability. His English improves as he progresses through the system, so after about four or five years, by the time he reaches the majors, he knows enough at least to get by. Montero, 23, was atypical. �He�s gotten through the system a lot faster than any other player we�ve had,� Reyes said. Faster than the Mets could teach him English... ... Reyes tries speaking to Montero in English, but Montero is an introvert whose English is coming along slowly. He generally gives one- or two-word answers in Spanish. So Reyes says he is not sure how much Montero knows, how the classes are going or whether he understands his coaches. �I think he knows more than he lets on,� Reyes said.

[MFS62]

Welcome to the bigs, kid.
Now, out of the house. You're on your own now.
Gotta' make room in the pipeline for another prospect.

Later

[MFS62]

Back at Las Vegas, he pitched seven innings tonight and left the game.
No word on why.
Later